Sunday, 13 September 2015

Sanskrit India's ancient language and its European link

Sanskrit is the foremost sacred language of Hinduism as well as the philosophical language of Buddhismand
Jainism. Sanskrit, which has a prominent position in Indo-European
studies, was once a lingua franca in many parts of ancient India. It is
being widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious functions
and rituals. The foundation of India culture is based on the Sanskrit
language. The world’s oldest known literary work - the Vedas that form the
foundation of Hindu Philosophy and Spirituality – are written in
Sanskrit. It is also a primary language in Buddhist religious practices
in the form of hymns and chants. As for the west, the language has
close association with Yoga practitioners
and Gurus. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali written in Sanskrit is widely
referred to by the Yoga teachers. It is common to see Sanskrit phrases
as mottoes for various national, educational and social organizations in countries like India, Nepal and Thailand. Through out the length and breadth of India a great preponderance of personal names - particularlyfeminine names are in Sanskrit, ex: Deepa, Padmini, Jaishree, Srinidhi, Priya, etc. That Sanskrit is a language meant for only recitation of mantras in places of worship or rituals is not true. Once upon a time Sanskrit was the language in which all our great scientists in ancient India wrote their works. The religious literature, it is said, covers only less than 10% and as for the rest, it has nothing to do with religion.

Considered as an important Indo-European language,
it was William Jones , British Judge (1780) and Polyglot, who brought
to light for the first time the existence of a potential, beautiful and
well advanced ancient language that was once widely spoken across the Indian sub continent.

Sir William Jones (28 September 1746 – 27 April 1794), one of the most influential Angelo-Welsh philologists of his time told The Asiatic Society in Calcutta on 2 February, 1786:

''The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of
a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than
the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both
of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the
forms of grammar, than could have been produced by accident; so strong,
indeed, that no philologist could examine them all three, without
believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps,
no longer exists''.

Sir William Jones for the first time in 1786 suggested
in his book '' The Sanskrit Language" that Greek and Latin were related
to Sanskrit and perhaps even Gothic, Celtic and Persian languages were
related to Sanskrit. His detailed studies ultimately led to the theory
called PIE - Proto-Indo-European language, meaning all Indo-European
languages including Sanskrit had their origin in an unheard of
language. Max Muller, scholars like Voltaire,
Immanuel Kant etc believed that Sanskrit was the root of all
Indo-European languages. Voltaire said ,''I am convinced that everything
has come down to us from the banks of the Ganges''.

The word `Sanskrit' means “prepared, pure, refined or prefect”. Sanskrit works cover almost every field - Astronomy, Maths, science,Philosophy, Law, etc., Sanskrit
is a language for humanity and not merely a means for communication
within a society. The oldest surviving literature of the world, viz. the
Vedas, encompass knowledge in virtually every sphere of human
activity. Languages such as Latin or Greek, etc possess a hoary
antiquity, but among them, Sanskrit is the only language which has
retained its pristine purity. Its structure, verb patterns and vocabulary even today
are as they were in the past. Francois Gautier, correspondent in South Asia of Le Figaro, France's largest circulated newspaper says:

"Sanskrit
is the mother of all languages, and it could become the unifying
language of India, apart from English, which is spoken only, by a
tiny minority. "Sanskrit ought still to have a future as the
language of the learned and it will not be a good day for India when
the ancient tongues cease entirely to be written or spoken",
admonished 50 years ago Sri Aurobindo, India's great Sage and Seer.

Below is a list of English words, most probably derived from Sanskrit or PIE (Proto Indo- European). Though the origins of certain English words is still a subject of debate, general consensus among Scholars is Sanskrit has close link with European languages with common origin.

Lables

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I am KN.Jayaraman, Retd Geologist, author of this blog. I have a strong passion for Ancient Indian Culture, art, architecture, etc...
I started this blog with a view to covering the above areas and also odd things related to India.
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